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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250379">I'll keep you safe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aromanticanti/pseuds/aromanticanti'>aromanticanti</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood &amp; Manga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Asexual Ed, F/F, F/M, Freeform, Idk what i'm doing, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, Not Beta Read, Parental Roy Mustang, Protective Alphonse Elric, Protective Ling Yao, Trans Mei, Winry bashing, adding tags as I update, biromantic ed, gay ling, trans Ed, winry is kind of a bitch in this I'm sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:54:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,787</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aromanticanti/pseuds/aromanticanti</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>ed breaks up with his abusive girlfriend and automail mechanic winry</p><p>idk how to summary</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edward Elric/Ling Yao, Mei Chan | May Chang/Alphonse Elric, Paninya/Winry Rockbell, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ummmmm so this idea came to my brain and I decided to start it, it gets a little sloppy at the end cause my brain shut down </p><p>also winry is so ooc and I'm so sorry but this is the only way I could make what I was doing make sense i might redeem her but I also want her to have done a lot of awful things to ed so idk if she c a n be redeemed</p><p>I don't have a solid plan for this story (when do I ever) but I already want to start on chapter two so hfigierukab</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He woke up to his alarm blaring and the sounds of people moving around outside his room. It was a Friday, thank god, he just wanted to continue sleeping but if he didn’t get up soon he knew either al or mustang would be coming in to wake him up themselves.</p><p>He begrudgingly pushed his body up with his sore arms, of course his shoulder decided to hurt more than usual today. He dragged his groggy body out of bed and over to his closet, he just pulled out a simple red hoodie and some ripped skinny jeans. </p><p>He threw on his clothes and grabbed his worn out combat boots with platform insoles and threw those on as well. He left his room and made his way to the bathroom, knowing he was probably the last one up even though he woke up with his alarm.</p><p>He brushed his teeth and hair and put it in a simple braid. He went back to his room grabbing his phone and his bag, he hasn’t checked his phone yet but he’s sure he had a bunch of missed messages from winry maybe even the whole group chat.</p><p>He really was dreading today, he knew every Friday winry “asked” him to come over but it wasn’t really a choice. If he didn’t she’d either guilt trip him or just hit him for not wanting to spend time with her, he recalled with disdain the time she accused him of cheating because he hadn’t been over for the past few weeks.</p><p>But this Friday was going to be different, he’d been with winry for a year too scared to break it off, but he was sick of it and he didn’t know how much more of her he could take. </p><p>He really did love her, but she was just awful to him. He knew that when he dumped her today she was going to make him seem like the bad guy, no one knew about the abuse and he definitely wasn’t going to tell them so he’d just have to handle this too. He’d like to think at least his brother would be on his side but he also didn’t what winry would say to make him the villain.</p><p>He entered the kitchen seeing his brother and mustang sitting down, they had all managed to wake up early enough to eat more than a slice of toast on the way out the door like an anime girl running late for once. Maybe it was a sign today would go well, or maybe it was a bad omen, he couldn’t tell.</p><p>He was still tired, always tired, he made his way over to the empty seat with a plate of toaster waffles and plopped down into it, setting his bag down next to him. He wasn’t that hungry, he was still thinking about everything that can and probably will go wrong when he breaks up with winry.</p><p>He lets out a silent sigh and then notices both al and mustang looking at him. Mustang was far more subtle about it then al was but that wasn’t saying that much.<br/>
“..what?” he glanced between them both, maybe they could tell he was nervous, or, maybe, he grew an extra head, who knows maybe both. Al was the first to say something,</p><p>“are you alright brother?” he wasn’t sure what his brother was talking about specifically, it could be that he looked more tired than normal this morning or maybe that he was basically radiating nervous energy.</p><p>“yeah I’m fine, why?” so that was a lie, but he’s been lying a lot lately and no one has called him out on it yet so he wasn’t going to stop. He saw mustang give him a look that said he knew he was lying but he didn’t care. </p><p>He decided to eat some of his breakfast to maybe get al and mustang to stop being so suspicious, he took one bite and felt ten times more queasy than before. He ate a bit more and then just decided on nursing his orange juice.</p><p>After a few minutes he decided to finally check his phone, he picked it up and read the time, <em>5:45<em>, mustang had work at six and they had school, he was getting more and more nervous as the time to school drew closer and closer.</em></em></p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He looked at his notifications and, what do you know it, eight missed messages from winry, he was surprised to see even more from the group chat too. He was up really late last night so those must’ve been from only a few hours ago.</em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>He opened winry’s messages and if it was even possible his anxiety worsened. </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>Win<br/>
ed<br/>
ed I know you must be up you were in the group chat like two minutes ago<br/>
ed come on<br/>
you know what<br/>
fine don’t answer me then<br/>
youre coming over tonight<br/>
I miss you ;)<br/>
ugh youre impossible</em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>he let out another sigh, he didn’t really feel like checking the group chat right now so he just shut his phone off after that. It looked like al and mustang were done eating so while they put their dishes away he chugged his orange juice, and put his dishes in the sink too.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“I can give you two a ride this morning if you want.” mustang said already grabbing his keys and heading for the door.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“sure! Thank you.” al said grabbing his bag and waiting by the door for ed. He grabbed his bag and walked out with them to the car. It was a quick ride and mustang said goodbye and drove off to work.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Al and him made their way to the entrance of the school, he thanked the god he doesn’t believe in that they got there just in time to not be able to talk to anyone before class. He made his way into the school quickly parting ways with al seeing as they had classes in two different hallways.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>He didn’t have any classes with any of his friends till after lunch which, he was dreading, because today he had lunch with winry. At least ling would be there sometimes ed thinks ling might know about how winry really is, but hes never said anything so maybe he’s wrong.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>He feels safe around ling at least. It wasn’t like how he felt around his other friends or al, it was different somehow. He couldn’t really explain it but it felt like ling could, would, protect him from harm. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>When it was finally time for lunch he felt like he was going to throw up. He knows winry in gonna be all over him and make him uncomfortable just from the messages she sent last night, or she was going to hit him.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>He didn’t know about that though, maybe she wouldn’t if ling was there, or maybe he was just hoping she wouldn’t, he thought about not going to lunch for a minute but he really wants to see ling. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>As he walked into the lunchroom he noticed winry wasn’t there yet. He saw ling though, and made his way over to where he was sitting in the back already with his lunch tray full of food. He felt a little tension leave himself as he sat down next to the xingese boy with a tiny smile on his face.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“oh hello ed!” he looked at the boy as he said hello about to say an introduction back when he noticed the angry blonde that was winry stomping over to them, he instantly tensed up and ling noticed. He glanced at him and then looked over to winry with a clearly fake smile, well at least clearly to ed.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“oh hi winry. You seem a little disgruntled today.” ed looked at ling for a short second then turned back towards the clearly pissed winry, scared of what she was going to do or say.<br/>
“oh I’m fine, ed can we talk for a second out in the hallway or something.” she had that look on her face that told him he was either going to be knocked out by the end of this ‘conversation’ or holding back tears, which, to be fair, he sort of was right now.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“actually ed and I were just going to talk about something we had to do in our next class, a project.” ling looked at her like he was trying to read her mind. He wasn’t sure what winry was going to do but he wasn’t looking forward to it.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>To his surprise it seemed she wasn’t going somehow forcefully rip him from lings grasp, when did that even happen, she just looked at the two boys for a second before speaking,</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“alright I guess I can talk to him after school.” she looked at him with that look that meant she <em>better<em> see him after school or he was gonna be screwed, and then she walked over to the lunch line.</em></em></em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Ling gently pulled him up off his seat and brought him out of the lunchroom and to one of the more deserted hallways. He didn’t say anything and even though ed felt like he should be he wasn’t at all scared. If ling was going to hurt him he would've been more rough, like winry.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>When they made it into the hallway ling sat down which also pulled ed making him sit as well. This is when he finally decided to speak up.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“are you alright?” he just looked at him, he didn’t really know how to answer. For some reason he really didn’t want to lie to ling this time, he felt like if he didn’t though winry would come stomping into the hallway and drag him away to hurt him.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Ling was still holding gently onto his wrist but he slowly moved his hand into ed’s, not saying anything, just waiting for ed.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“I, I’m, I’m good right now.” it wasn’t really a lie per say, he was good right now, holding hands with ling, he felt safe, like if winry did come stomping around that corner that ling would protect him from her.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>He couldn’t put it all into words but ling made him feel safe and stable.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Just as ling was about to speak the bell rang and they had to stand up. They had their next class together so they walked there in comfortable silence. Ed was sad but had to let go of ling’s hand, al was also in his next class and not only that he doesn’t need winry to actually have reason to believe he’s cheating on her.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>They still walked close together though, closer than they needed to at least. </em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>When they reached their class they sat down, ling was right next to him on the left al on his right, but it seemed his brother wasn’t here yet. He guessed the two of them were a little early as there weren’t many students in the class yet.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>He was grateful school was almost over but at the same time still very nervous, he was going to break up with winry and he knew she wouldn’t be happy. </em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>The second bell rang just as al made his way to his desk and sat down. He looked at him confused because al is usually here before ed is. He noticed al’s hair was a little tussled and his face was red, he just looked at his brother with a slightly shocked look on his face.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>It wasn’t like al to make out during school hours. He’s definitely gonna tease him about that later, but right now he had to pretend to pay attention to his teacher.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>The next three classes passed by too quickly for his liking and soon he was making his way to the schools entrance. When he left the building he saw all his friends kind of huddled in a small group, they all usually talked a bit and planned anything they wanted to do outside before walking home or getting a ride.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Him and al made their way over to the group and he saw winry stop blatantly flirting with paninya and look up to him. He walked over and stood beside ling who was standing near lan fan and paninya.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“ed can we talk away from the group.” it wasn’t a question, he was tense but he needed to do this away from everyone anyway. “yeah, sure.” he didn’t even bother to put on a fake smile and he could tell it made winry a little upset.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>They walked a few feet away from their friends, just out of earshot before ed spoke up before winry.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“winry, I think we need to break up.” he decided to cut right to the chase before he could be interrupted. She just stared at him for a second before she slapped him, hard. Clearly it had been too hard because their friends looked over to them and looked like there were debating on walking over.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“what do you mean you think we need to break up! I’m a wonderful girlfriend, I can’t believe you’d do this to me, elric.” if their friends weren’t concerned before, they definitely were now. He saw al and ling walking over out of the corner of his eye but he was looking at winry.<br/>
She looked pissed he thought she might’ve hit him again if al and ling hadn’t come over. Al was trying to calm her down and ed could see her putting on a sad puppy face. Ling was just concerned with him though.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“ed are you alright?” he looked genuinely concerned, he had grabbed his face and was looking at his cheek to see if there was anything wrong.<br/>
“you’re bleeding a bit.” he wiped off the blood with his thumb, he couldn’t really do much. At this point their other three friends had made their way over.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Paninya was comforting winry with al, lan fan was sort of just watching and mei had come up to ling “here, for his face.” she handed him a band aid.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Of course mei carries band aids on her. </em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Ling gently put the band aid on his still bleeding cheek and held his face for a couple more seconds before letting it go. “ed?” he realized, then, that he had been silent the whole time and should probably say something.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>“yeah, I’m good.” he looked at ling’s unbelieving face. “no, really, I’ll be good. It was just a slap.” he still looked a little unsure but he nodded.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>He realized mei was standing next to lan fan not really knowing what to do, it seemed like winry was calming down though. He saw al had stepped away and let paninya handle it and turned around to talk to him.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>
          <em>
            <em>Before he could ask if he was okay or any of that though he wanted to go home, and he said as much. So him and al started on their way home after saying a short goodbye to everyone.</em>
          </em>
        </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>kind of a short in between chapter I might start the next chapter set on Monday because I think he'd just sleep most of the weekend and ignore messages</p><p>also idk if al is very in character but I tried, he's really hard to write for me if I'm being honest</p><p>also also the formatting might get messed up again so if it does sorry anything like 'this' is italics same with messages :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they finished their short walk home ed walked in the house nearly running to his room. He really didn’t want al asking him if he was okay or asking him what happened and why winry was so mad. He didn’t have the energy to deal with any of that.</p><p>He guesses al must’ve realized this because he didn’t even knock on his door to ask if he was alright, though he definitely would get asked later he wanted to avoid it for as long as he could. </p><p>He was also happy he could ignore anyone else for the next two days since it was the weekend and though they’d definitely be messaging him to ask if he was alright he could just ignore them.</p><p>He really didn’t want to know what winry was probably messaging him right now either so he tossed his phone on his bed and then plopped down on it face first. He decided he’d probably just sleep, he was so tired and still slightly nauseous from earlier so he just passed out without even taking his shoes off.</p><p>An hour or so later al had come into his room to check on him since he didn’t hear him moving around or anything and saw him passed out. He silently walked over to the end of the bed and took ed’s shoes off, shaking his head slightly with a barely there smile.</p><p>“brother, you didn’t even take your shoes off.” he quietly placed his brothers combat boots over by his closet and then walked out of his room. He’d probably wake him up later for dinner, even if his brother would be a little disgruntled about being woken up he needed to eat.</p><p>Al made his way to his room to do homework or text mei and the rest of their friends before mustang got home and it was time to eat. He’d ask how his brother was feeling later when he was awake.</p><p>Ed woke up to gentle knocking on his door and alphonse telling him mustang made them dinner. He was feeling a little better energy wise but was still a little nauseated, he still hadn’t checked his phone but he grabbed it anyway and stretched a bit.</p><p>He made his way to the kitchen, seeing mustang and al already sitting down and eating. He sat down in front of the plate of pasta that mustang probably just put on the table. He decided to just drink the water that was also set out for him for now.</p><p>He still felt like he got punched in the stomach and his face still hurt where winry slapped him. He also knew al was going to ask him about winry right when he got the chance and he really wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. He knew his brother would probably push him if he lied but he really didn’t want to tell his brother anything.</p><p>It wasn’t like he didn’t trust al, he did, he just didn’t want to cause a rift in the friend group or be seen as weak. He knew al would believe him and deep down also knew he wouldn’t think he was weak but he still didn’t want him to know, at least not right now.</p><p>He looked up when he heard mustang talking to him, “ed, what happened to your face, it looks like you got punched.” he looked a little concerned, which makes a little sense considering he hadn’t gotten into a fight in a few months and if thats why he had a bruise mustang probably would’ve gotten a call from the school.</p><p>He was about to answer when he saw al giving him a look that was telling him not to lie, damn al, he knew him so well.</p><p>“winry and I got into a fight and she slapped me.” well it wasn’t the whole truth, he didn’t say it was because he dumped her, but it wasn’t a lie either.</p><p>Mustang looked a little more concerned when he said that though, “that looks like it was more than a slap.” he looked at ed’s cheek a bit longer, “i’m going to take a look at that after dinner.” he left no real room for argument so he didn’t even try.</p><p>He put down his water and ate a bit of his pasta, he was still a little nauseous obviously not as bad as this morning but he was still dreading checking his phone, al talking to him and now mustang checking out his face later.</p><p>He continued to slowly pick at his pasta every so often seeing al look at him with concern, he guesses it’s cause he’s usually way quicker with eating and he probably can tell he’s nervous.</p><p>After ten or so minutes al was done eating and mustang finished shortly after, he cleared the rest of his dinner into the trash and rinsed off his plate. He sat back down at the table though knowing mustang was going to get a new band aid and stuff to clean out the cut he knew was there, <em>‘damn having a cop as a dad sucks in these situations’<em> he thought with a bit of bitterness.</em></em></p><p>
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    <em>Mustang came out of the bathroom and placed the stuff he brought out onto the table. He gently grabbed ed’s face and turned the bruised side towards himself, ripping off the band aid and throwing it away. He silently inspected the cut for a second and then put some hydrogen peroxide on the cut with a q tip, then placed a new band aid on it.</em>
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    <em>He handed ed an ice pack for the bruise knowing it was probably sore. He was confused why mustang hadn’t asked about winry yet when he saw al standing off to the entrance of the kitchen realizing mustang was probably going to let al ask him first and see if he needed him later.</em>
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    <em>Al just kind of looked at him for a second before talking “come on,” he then turned heading to ed’s room ed following him. He really was not looking forward to his little brother interrogating him but he knew he could be a little overprotective, <em>‘that’s my job’</em></em>
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        <em>Al sat down on ed’s bed waiting for him to come sit down as well, he made his way over to his bed and sat down looking away from his little brother.</em>
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        <em>“so what happened with winry.” he looked at him expectantly, he realized with a bit of contempt that he was probably going to have to tell the truth, or at least most of it because al probably wouldn’t leave him alone until he did, not like he wouldn’t try to get out of it though.</em>
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        <em>“I don’t want to talk about it right now al can we just do this later?” he looked at his brother and saw that he wasn’t going to let up, well it was worth a try.</em>
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        <em>“ed, you can’t just avoid talking about it.” he knows that, he really knows that, but he just really doesn’t want to deal with talking about it, ever.</em>
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        <em>“I know al, she was just upset with me that’s all.” okay he knew he said he wouldn’t lie and he technically didn’t but still, really, that’s all he could think to say? Al looked at him like <em>‘you really think I’m an idiot huh’<em>  before he responded</em></em></em>
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            <em>“ed, we heard her yell, she hit you for breaking up with her it wasn’t just a fight.” al was giving him a look he couldn’t quite read, and he wasn’t sure how to respond, it wasn’t a question.</em>
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            <em>“well she was upset that I dumped her I guess.” he looked at his hands that were gripping his sheets slightly, he was hoping al wouldn’t ask why they broke up. He probably wouldn’t, not right after it happened at least.</em>
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            <em>“have you talked to her yet?” he paused, he knew al would make him at least text her, she’s still his mechanic after all not to mention childhood friend. “no, I haven’t, not yet.”<br/>he kept his eyes on his hands while al responded.</em>
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            <em>“you should, at least text her or something, she was really upset and I think you guys should make up, stay friends, you shouldn’t let this ruin your friendship. Plus it’d be awkward if you didn’t make up and you needed your automail looked at.” he guessed al was  right about that last part, as much as he didn’t want to text her he knew he’d have to talk to her eventually anyway, he can’t avoid her at school.</em>
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            <em>“fine, I’ll text her.” with that al wished him luck and left, he knew if he needed to he could talk to al, but he wouldn’t even if al would want him to.</em>
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            <em>He slowly picked up his phone, he really didn’t want to see what she had texted him, or if any of his other friends messaged him. He looked at his messages and saw a few from the group chat, five from winry and, to his surprise, one from ling.</em>
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              <em>Win<em><br/><em>what did I do<em><br/><em>at least give a reason when you break up with someone<em><br/><em>you were probably cheating on me<em><br/><em>with ling I bet<em><br/><em>I saw how you were all over each other at lunch<em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em>
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                                    <em>of course she didn’t think it was her fault and, of course, she accused him of cheating on her. Why’d she always think that anyway. He went to read the one from ling, curious.</em>
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                                      <em>Ling<em> <br/><em>hey, how are you doing ed<em></em></em></em></em>
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                                            <em>he thought about responding, to both of the messages, but he ended up only texting ling back. He couldn’t think of a response to winry and he didn’t really want to.</em>
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                                              <em>Ed<em><br/><em>oh hey<em><br/><em>I’m fine<em><br/><em>my cheek is sore though<em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em>
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                                                            <em>Ling<em> <br/><em>did you clean up the cut<em><br/><em>it didn’t look too bad but it could still get infected<em></em></em></em></em></em></em>
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                                                            <em>Ed<em><br/><em>yeah I did<em><br/><em>well mustang did but<em><br/><em>same difference</em></em></em></em></em></em></em>
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                                                            <em>Ling<em> <br/><em>well it’s good you cleaned it<em><br/><em>you can talk to me btw ed<em></em></em></em></em></em></em>
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                                                            <em>Ed<em><br/><em>thank you<em><br/><em>I know<em></em></em></em></em></em></em>
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                                                            <em>he shut his phone off after that, he was tired again. He put his phone on his nightstand and took his jeans off before plopping back into his bed. </em>
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                                                            <em>He went to sleep feeling a bit better than before he texted ling.</em>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay first I'm so sorry this took so long !!! idk why I hadn't been in a writing mood and also couldn't really figure out how to do the whole winry accuses ed of cheating on her with ling thing</p><p>also idk if I'm going to make this a slowburn or not but I'm thinking maybe kinda, I literally have no idea how to write romance as not only am I an inexperienced writer I'm also aro!ace so haha</p><p>anyways al and ling might find out about a little bit of winry's abuse soon !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He woke up to knocking on his door and his brother’s soft voice telling him he should get up for school or else he’ll be late. He was dreading school even more than Friday. Hes been avoiding his friends messages all weekend and changing the subject whenever al asked.</p><p>He’d talked to ling a bit but even then it was little messages and he never talked about winry. He was a little surprised ling never brought her up but he guesses he just knew he wouldn’t talk to him.</p><p>He got up when al said mustang would come to wake him up next if he didn’t get up, he walked over to his closet and quickly got changed. He put on his boots and left to brush his teeth.</p><p>When he looked in the bathroom mirror he looked exhausted, which, made sense. Even though he hadn’t talked to her or even looked at her messages he knew she was going to do something today. He hadn’t been sleeping well thinking about it.</p><p>He finished up in the bathroom and grabbed his phone and bag and ran to the kitchen. He could tell he needed to hurry up because al was waiting for him by the door so he just downed the orange juice mustang left out for him and ran out the door with al.</p><p>He glanced at the clock in the car and saw it was five fifty seven, damn, mustang was probably going to be late for work. He was grateful though that he wouldn’t have to see winry till lunch, though he had lunch with all of his friends today. </p><p>He’d at least have ling and al there when winry inevitably turns everything around on him and make it all his fault. He really wasn’t looking forward to it but he can’t avoid this forever and he needs to acknowledge that.</p><p>He and al run to the front doors of school to get to class before the second bell, thank god they’re first class is on the first floor or they’d be screwed. They ran to their class together and made it to their seats right as the second bell rang.</p><p>They also had this class with mei who upon hearing them basically slam their bodies into their seats glanced at them a little concerned. Al had the decency to blush but before she could ask why they were so late the teacher came in and started class.</p><p>His first three classes went by way too fast for his liking and what felt like way too soon he was walking with lan fan, who was in his last class, to the cafeteria. They were walking from the complete opposite end of the school to lunch so it was a little bit of a longer walk which he was grateful for. </p><p>Lan fan and him walked in a comfortable silence, even if he wanted to talk he doesn’t know if he’d be able to, to the cafeteria. Again, way too soon, they made it to the cafeteria. He walked in and saw all of his friends sitting in the back. He and lan fan made their way over and sat down.</p><p>He sat in between al and ling and lan fan sat next to mei on the opposite side of the table. When he sat down winry looked at him with an unreadable look on her face. He didn’t know what she was thinking and that scared him.</p><p>Ling subtlety grabbed his wrist to comfort him and it calmed him down a bit. It still didn’t completely get rid of his panic that everything was about to go up in flames but it helped. He guesses ling wasn’t subtle enough though because it seems him grabbing his wrist made her angry, if her expression change was anything to go by.</p><p>“Edward, did you break up with me because you were cheating on me with ling.” she looked up at him with a new expression, sort of like a kicked puppy, it made him sick.</p><p>“what?” he was confused how she’d come to that conclusion but then he remembered he messages from Friday and it started to make sense, this was how she was going to turn it on him so she doesn’t look bad.</p><p>“you two are always hanging out or texting and on Friday he dragged you away to talk about some project and then later that day you dumped me in front of everyone.” she sniffled, if he didn’t know her so well he’d think she believed it.</p><p>Before he could even open his mouth to say anything back she spoke up again. “it makes so much sense, I bet you loved ling all along and you just dated me for fun.” with that she stood up and made a semi dramatic exit, paninya glanced at him and then went after winry probably to comfort her.</p><p>He just sat there shocked, he wasn’t sure what to say or feel. Obviously he knew everything she said was bullshit and ling obviously did too, he was shaking slightly and ling gently squeezed his wrist to try and calm him down a bit. He noticed his breathing was a little ragged too and tried to calm himself down.</p><p>When he was more aware of his surroundings he noticed everyone left at the table looking at him concerned. He wishes he were anywhere but here right now, he could tell they were all thinking pretty much the same thing.</p><p>Before any of them could say anything the bell rang, ed took this opportunity to stand up and basically run to his next class. He knew he wouldn’t get away from talking about what happened forever but for right now he knew he was going to avoid it. </p><p>Ling ran to catch up to him as he actually had the rest of the days classes with him but he didn’t ask ed about the whole winry thing, he was grateful for that. They walked to class with a comfortable air around them. Ling grabbed ed’s wrist again and they walked to class like that.</p><p>He knew as soon as school ended al was going to be hounding him but for right now he was with ling, safe, and he was okay. </p><p>His last three classes went by too quickly again and he walked out of the school with ling, ling was holding onto his wrist and he was grateful because it calmed him down quite a bit. When they made it outside he saw al talking to mei, paninya and winry talking a little away from them and lan fan standing next to the entrance to the school.</p><p>She looked at ling and him as they walked out and didn’t say anything but when al noticed them he stopped talking to mei and started walking over to ed.</p><p>“you can’t avoid this conversation forever brother.” damn, al knew him so well. Ling looked at al for a second before focusing on ed. That’s when he realized ling would probably want to talk to him about winry as well, considering what she accused them of.</p><p>“I know al, but can we at least wait till we’re home or something.” if he didn’t want to talk about this with just al and ling he definitely didn’t want to talk about it in public around everybody.</p><p>“alright, but you aren’t avoiding this.” he knows he isn’t going to get out of this, there was no way to avoid something like this considering how persistent al is.</p><p>“I would also like to talk to you about this, I want to know what made winry think either of us would that.” he knew ling would bring it up but he still wasn’t happy about it, he guesses he should kill two birds with one stone and talk to both of them.</p><p>“if you’re free  could just explain it to you and al at the same time.” he wasn’t sure if he could explain it without telling them about winry’s abuse but he doesn’t need to be too detailed maybe he can avoid the topic all together.</p><p>“sure I just have to tell lan fan I won’t be walking home with her.” ling let go of his wrist and he instantly felt less safe then he did when ling was holding him, he watched as ling walked over to lan fan and told her that he was going to be going with ed and al.</p><p>A few minutes later his wrist was back in lings hand and they were making their way home.</p><p>He somehow wasn’t as nervous as he was before as ling’s hand slipped into his.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A bit of a shorter chapter but don’t worry im getting to the edling!!! and gosh I actually kind of have an idea with this now and I know how im gonna let mustang know about winry’s abuse</p><p>im probably going to start on chapter 5 right away but idk its like 1030pm when I finished this but yeah</p><p>also I do post updates on my twitter if you want to follow me there its antisepticblep I tweet about anime and writing and stuff haha </p><p>anyway I hope you like the chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The three boys were sitting on ed’s bedroom floor, they had been sitting there for five minutes and ed really wished it was longer but he can’t stall any more. The walk home was made in silence, al and ling were waiting for him to talk and while he knew they weren’t going to rush him he didn’t want to make them wait forever.</p><p>He also knew avoiding this would be useless because at some point he’d need to address it anyway so he might as well get it over with sooner rather than later. So he took a big deep breath in and got ready to explain the whole winry thing as well as he could.</p><p>He still really didn’t want to tell them about how abusive she was but he knew he’d need to at least mention it as there was no healthy explanation to why she would accuse him of cheating and there’s also the whole slapping him thing.</p><p>He sighed, well here it goes, “I’m not really surprised she said I cheated on her, this actually isn’t the first time.” he wasn’t entirely sure where he was going with this.</p><p>He could tell al was a little confused, he wasn’t surprised, she was their childhood friend and from the outside their relationship probably looked pretty healthy but obviously that wasn’t the case.</p><p>“she was mad at me for breaking up with her, and I guess she just wanted to make me seem like a liar in case I had decided to tell you guys about what she was really like.” he looked to ling and al. Al looked a little less confused but was still definitely not catching on but, ling, he looked like he might be getting what he’s implying.</p><p>He wasn’t too surprised ling seemed to get it, considering how he seemed to protect him from winry lately. He guessed he’d have to elaborate a little more though, at least for al to understand.</p><p>“she wasn’t, uh, very great to me. I guess she was kind of toxic…” okay so that was an understatement but he doesn’t know if he could say she was abusive out loud, he could barely accept it in his head.</p><p>He looked at his brother and saw a little understanding cross his features, followed up by concern, not that that surprised him or anything, it wouldn’t be alphonse if he wasn’t concerned for ed’s well being. He just hoped he wouldn’t ask what he knew he would.</p><p>“so, she abused you?” well there it is, he nodded. He suddenly felt exhausted, he wanted to just lay down and fall asleep, he wasn’t sure if he’d even be able to do that when he was left alone though.</p><p>“I’m sorry.” his head snapped up so fast he was surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash “what do you mean you’re sorry, you didn’t do anything.” he was confused why al would feel the need to apologize.</p><p>“yeah, that’s exactly why I’m apologizing, I’m sorry I never noticed how you were being treated by winry, brother. Now that I know it seems so obvious, I don’t know how I didn’t see anything.” he just stared at his brother, he didn’t know what to say. </p><p>“you’re no more to blame then I am or anyone else, or even ed, alphonse.” ed looked at ling when he said that, “hind sight is twenty-twenty they say, maybe we all could or should have noticed something wrong, but we didn’t. What we need to do now is just help edward heal from this and be there for him.”</p><p>ed didn’t know what to say, he was a little shocked at ling’s words. He felt a little twinge in his chest but ignored it, he was still tired and didn’t want to deal with anymore emotions.</p><p>“yeah, I guess you’re right.” al looked towards ed and noticed how tired he was. “you look tired brother, you should nap I’ll wake you up for dinner.” ed was grateful for al ending the conversation.</p><p>The two brothers said goodbye to ling and walked off to their separate rooms.</p><p>Ed knew he’d have to think about his feelings later but for now he was just going to go to sleep with a warm feeling in his chest.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>heyyy I'm back with another update !! a longer chapter this time as well</p><p>as I've said before I'm kind of awful with romance being aro/ace and generally not a very good writer but I'm trying my best !!</p><p>I think next chapter I might make Edling actually happen idk yet but uh yeah enjoy ig</p><p>also sorry if Mei or ed are ooc I wasnt sure how to write their interactions or a lovestruck ed</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a week since he talked to al and ling about the winry situation and he’s been hanging out with ling a lot more lately. He guesses since he broke up with winry he has more time and freedom to do whatever he wants but he thinks there’s more to it.</p><p>It was currently three am and he was laying awake in bed thinking about ling. He had meant to go to bed a few hours ago but he just couldn’t stop thinking about the xingese boy. He was kind, funny, charismatic and not to mention he was really pretty.</p><p>He doesn’t know when he started feeling this way but he noticed that weird fluttery thing happening a lot around ling lately, he wasn’t sure if he should be scared or happy about this crush yet.</p><p>He was scared that if ling somehow liked him back and they got together their relationship would end up like him and winry, after all, she was sweet and loving the first few months and there were no red flags until everything snowballed and she was basically beating him every other time they went on a ‘date’. </p><p>But at the same time ling seemed different. He never felt the same way around winry that he does around ling. That feeling of being completely safe and secure and if anything tries to hurt him ling is there to protect him.</p><p>That gave him hope that maybe if he got with ling it could be different. He obviously didn’t know if ling even liked him like that though.</p><p>He ended up not falling asleep and just laid in bed all night thinking about ling and what ifs. He turned his head towards his window as the sun came up and decided he should just get up for school now.</p><p>Since it was still obviously early he decided to shower and take his time to get ready. While he was in the shower he still couldn’t stop thinking about ling. </p><p>He got out of the shower and put his binder and clothes on and brushed his teeth and hair. He walked back over to his room and saw it was five thirty, he decided he could make mustang, al and him coffee so he grabbed his phone and went to the kitchen.</p><p>He set up the coffee pot and checked his phone while he waited for the coffee to brew. He saw he didn’t miss much, he looked at his messages with ling.</p><p>Ling<br/>how are you young edward</p><p>ed<br/>I’m older than you dumbass<br/>and I’m alright</p><p>ling <br/>are you<br/>alright I mean I know you’re older than me</p><p>ed<br/>yeah Im good right now<br/>and if you knew that why did you call me young <br/>weirdo</p><p>ling <br/>would you rather I called you old then?</p><p>Ed <br/>ha you’re such an idiot </p><p>ling <br/>I may be an idiot but <br/>I dont have anything to add to that<br/>anyway I must be going lan fan will kill me if she knew I was still up</p><p>ed<br/>goodnight then</p><p>ling <br/>yes goodnight ed :)</p><p>he sighed, why was he pining over such an idiot, a cute idiot but still.</p><p>He looked up when he heard the coffee machine stop and poured himself a mug of the black liquid. He didn’t bother pouring al or mustang one knowing they were specific about how they drank it, he was fine with just black and moved to sit down at the table.</p><p>He plopped down in his usual chair and two minutes later heard both mustang’s and al’s alarms go off. He saw them both a few seconds later.</p><p>“I made coffee.” mustang looked surprised that ed was up before him for a second until he realized his son probably hadn’t even slept “thank you ed.” mustang made himself a mug of coffee while al was getting dressed and brushing his teeth.</p><p>He came out of the bathroom and gave his brother that look that told him he was unhappy with him, probably because he didn’t sleep, he’d probably ask why he hadn’t slept but for now it looked like he was getting his coffee.</p><p>Mustang put waffles in the toaster and went to go get dressed, ed guesses he could’ve made them breakfast too but he wasn’t hungry so the thought didn’t even really come to mind.</p><p>The waffles popped up and al took a few and sat down with his coffee to eat, he looked at ed seeing he hadn’t moved to get any but he wasn’t really feeling breakfast today, he had first lunch today so he’d be fine if he got hungry as well.</p><p>Before al could say anything mustang came out and took his waffles and sat down. They ended up just eating in a comfortable silence until it was time to leave.</p><p>They walked up to the entrance of the school where everyone just loitered until the first bell rang and walked up to mei who seemed to be the only one actually here early. Al and mei softly smiled when they saw each other and ed bit back the urge to make fun of them for being all lovey.</p><p>He learnt a few days ago that the two of them were together, though he already guessed that when he saw al come back from that make out session on Friday. He humored them and pretended to be surprised though. He already gave his shovel talk to mei and he knew ling and lan fan gave one to al. </p><p>He thought they were cute together and he was happy his little brother seemed to be happy. He knew mei would treat him right as well, she was a nice kid. He sat quietly near his brother and mei just listening to them having a quiet conversation.</p><p>It was only a few minutes later when he saw ling and lan fan show up. He was surprised since ling was never early but he was happy he’d get a chance to talk to him before class starts. </p><p>Ling smiled when he noticed him and walked over to where he was sitting. He sat down closer than he needed to while lan fan went over to al and mei. Ed didn’t know why but he got a little tingle went he felt ling’s arm brush his.</p><p>“hello ed, you got to school early today.” ling smiled softly in his direction and he felt his face heat up a bit he wasn’t sure if ling caught it but out of the corner of his eye he saw lan fan look at him knowingly.</p><p>“yeah I woke up early, but I’m more surprised you got here early, you’re usually late. What did lan fan drag you out of bed or something.” he noticed lan fan smile a bit at what he said, she was within ear shot so she could hear their conversation, but it surprised when ling blushed a little, then he laughed.</p><p>“no she didn’t actually, I’m capable of waking up on time when I want to.” now it was ed’s turn to laugh, ling is notorious for basically having to be dragged from his bed whenever he has to be up before noon time. Ling looked a little offended but then smirked.</p><p>“don’t laugh when I know for a fact al has to drag you to school at least twice a month.” he fake gasped “now why would you think that, my brother has never once had to drag me to school.” he crossed his arms with an exaggerated pout. He could see al and mei were now paying a little more attention to their conversation and lan fan was still quietly laughing.</p><p>“if al has never dragged you to school then neither has lan fan.” ling said that with that way too cute smirk on his face and ed realizing he had been defeated had uncrossed his arms and laughed quietly.</p><p>Ling’s face turned red and he looked at him with a soft smile on his face. Their three friends smiled at the two boys who looked like they were in their own world.</p><p>At that exact moment though the bell rang and broke the spell they were seemingly under. Ed looked away and quickly stood up, face still burning and made his way in the school. Al had first period with him so he caught up to him.</p><p>Al looked at his brother with a little knowing smile and then looked away and they walked to their first class in comfortable silence.</p><p>His first three classes seemed to move at a snail’s pace, maybe it was because he was actually looking forward to lunch today that it felt like it was taking forever to actually get there.</p><p>He had lunch with ling and winry today, though, he guessed winry would probably avoid him like she’s been doing lately. After lunch he had his last two classes with ling and then it was the weekend, maybe he’d ask ling if he wanted to come over.</p><p>Mei was sitting next to him as she had class with him before his lunch period and she noticed him day dreaming. She saw the slight blush on his cheeks and giggled quietly as she snapped a photo for later blackmailing purposes. </p><p>The bell ringing broke him out of his day dream and he got up and made his way to the cafeteria.</p><p>His class was pretty close so he got there before ling and sat down at a table after getting food from the line which was still almost entirely empty, he also got ling food because he knew he was coming from the other end of the school and they’d be out of the good stuff by the time he got there and with ling’s bottomless pit of a stomach that wouldn’t be good.</p><p>He sat down in the back placing down the two lunch trays in his hands and pulled out his phone, seeing a message from mei.</p><p>Mei<br/>(ed day dreaming)<br/>soooo were you thinking of my brother ;)</p><p>he blushed at the message and picture and quickly typed out a reply.</p><p>Ed<br/>hey! <br/>I never take pictures of you when you’re all blushy over my brother</p><p>he shut his phone off and put it back in his pocket as he saw ling spotting him and start walking over.</p><p>“I got you food before they ran out of it all.” he watched ling as he plopped down in a seat and grabbed a slice of pizza off of the styrofoam lunch tray “oh ed you’re an absolute angel.” he shoved the whole slice of pizza into his mouth and barely even chewed it before swallowing.</p><p>Ed didn’t know how but he found it kind of cute. “well if I didn’t you would’ve just complained the rest of the day and my last two classes are with you so I didn’t want to have to hear it.” he looked away with a slight blush, it wasn’t entirely a lie but he also knew  it wasn’t the whole truth either.</p><p>“I wouldn’t have complained, I would’ve suffered silently.” ling then shoved more food ungraciously into his mouth “yeah right,” he sounded annoyed but he couldn’t hide the smile on his slightly red face.<br/>They joked around like that for the rest of their lunch period and when the bell rang ling gently grabbed his hand as they made their way to their next class. Ed was blushing pretty red and he knew ling noticed but he saw ling had a slight blush too. </p><p>By the time they made it to class ling had stopped blushing almost completely but ed was still pretty red. Ed was a little sad when he had to let go of ling’s hand, he sat down to see his brother holding back laughter. He just knew al was going to make fun of him just like he did with al and mei, karma. </p><p>Classes went by pretty quick and as they were walking out of the classroom he grabbed ling’s hand this time, which, seemed to catch ling off guard if the blush was anything to go by. It definitely wasn’t as intense as ed’s but it was still pretty noticeable.</p><p>He laughed a little bit at ling’s expression as they made their way to the entrance of the school. When they exited al, mei and lan fan were all standing and talking quietly. Ed and ling made their way over to their friends and he saw al try and fail to hide a smile, the other two didn’t even try to hide it.</p><p>“hey brother, is ling coming over this weekend I invited mei and lan fan already, we were thinking of having a little sleepover since we hadn’t in awhile, and I already checked with dad.” when al said that he realized that they hadn’t had a proper sleepover with all his friends since winry started getting bad.</p><p>“oh yeah that sounds great but can we order food when we get to your house I’m starving.” ed looked at him with an incredulous look on his face “you ate like a third of your body weight at lunch and you’re still hungry!?” lan fan didn’t look too surprised at ed’s statement.</p><p>“well it still didn’t fill me up all the way, I have a big appetite.” ed rolled his eyes a bit “more like a bottomless pit.” “hey!”</p><p>The group laughed and shared banter as they made their way to the elric’s house, ed and ling hand in hand the whole way there.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay so I don't really like this chapter but uhhhh here's the edling </p><p>I literally have no idea how to write romance so if this is worse than normal that is why</p><p>my aro!ace ass was not suited for this</p><p>also I wrote a bit of the end at my friends house while stoned so if its a little ooh confusing or stiff thats why and I apologize</p><p> </p><p>anyways enjoy !!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The group of teens had arrived at ed and al’s house around eight hours ago, they ordered a few pizzas when they got there and ate. They all talked and played mario party together and had fallen asleep to a movie twenty minutes ago, except ed.</p><p>He was laying on the floor of his bedroom while his friends slept all around him, mei and lan fan were sharing the bed while al had fallen asleep somewhere close and ling was the closest to ed. He couldn’t fall asleep, he just couldn’t stop thinking about ling.</p><p>God he’s so whipped, he couldn’t believe it. When he thought about it he realized he liked ling for a lot longer than he originally thought. He liked ling before he even got with winry he just didn’t realize and then she asked him out so he got with her but those feelings towards ling never went away.</p><p>He suddenly felt his phone vibrate from next to him on the floor so he grabbed it and saw a few messages from ling.</p><p>Ling<br/>I know youre up edward<br/>whats on your mind then</p><p>ed<br/>no no you cant grill me about why im up if youre also up</p><p>ling <br/>so I see weve come to a standstill<br/>do you want to actually talk</p><p>ed<br/>yeah sure<br/>we should leave the room though <br/>so we dont wake the others</p><p>ling <br/>yeah<br/>we should get some air maybe?</p><p>Ed<br/>sounds like a good idea</p><p>so they both stood up and quietly put their shoes on, ed didn't bother with any sweater or anything and ling and him made their way out on to the roof. They laid down and just relished in each others company for a bit.</p><p>“so, why were you up, I thought I was the only one awake.” ed glanced over at ling after he asked his question, waiting patiently for an answer “I was just thinking, why were you up then?”</p><p>“I was also just thinking, what was on your mind” they were both looking at each other now ling had a slight blush on his face as he answered “I was thinking about you.”</p><p>ed blushed a bit “that’s funny because I was thinking about you as well.”  now they were both blushing pretty red, their whole faces weren’t red but it was pretty close “that’s such a funny coincidence, I wonder if we were thinking the same thing.” ling said that with a smirk, he was clearly fucking with ed because what else do you mean by I was thinking about you so ed sighed, “you’re such an ass.” he couldn’t hold back his soft smile though</p><p>“sooo do you wanna kiss or..” ed laughed a bit “come here you prick.” and they kissed.</p><p>It felt so much different than when him and winry used to kiss. It was gentle and slow and full of mutual love. They separated and just kind of looked at each other, their faces were now completely red but they also both wore smiles.</p><p>“so you’re like, my boyfriend now or something right.” god ed can’t believe he fell in love with this buffoon, “yes I’m your boyfriend, it’s cold we should probably head inside soon.” ling took off his sweater and handed it to ed “here, we should stay out a little longer, its nice.” if it was even possible ed flushed deeper, he put on ling’s hoodie and tried to cool his face down, damn that smile.</p><p>“alright, we can stay out a bit longer.” they scooted a little closer and laid down again, staring at the stars.</p><p> </p><p>When they made their way back in it was already six in the morning and they had been out there for four hours. It looked like all their friends were already up, which, wasn’t that surprising considering they went to bed early and were already morning people as it was. Mustang must’ve been off from work or something though because he was still asleep.</p><p>“where were you two when we woke up you weren’t in the room” mei asked the question not really accusing them of anything but just genuinely curious where the boys were “we were just getting a bit of fresh air.” ed wasn’t sure if ling wanted to tell the others about their relationship quite yet and he wasn’t even sure if HE wanted them to know.</p><p>“fresh air huh?” now that was definitely an accusing tone and it was a little surprising coming from lan fan “well that is what ed said isn’t it” al seemed to be thinking about something until he suddenly said something “is that ling’s hoodie?” </p><p>ed and ling both flushed red, well he guesses it doesn’t really matter anymore. “maybe, maybe not, who’s to really say?” lan fan looked like she was trying to hold back a smile and she was definitely failing “I think the fact that I’ve never seen you wear it before the fact I saw ling wearing it yesterday and it’s also two sizes too big tells me what I need to know.”</p><p>“well ed was cold so I lent him my hoodie, its just what good pals do.” it was at this moment ed realized they were still holding hands basically giving themselves away anyway and it seems mei saw it too “yeah and I bet friends hold hands and blush around each other all the time too?”</p><p>“you know we don’t care if you two are together, it’d honestly be a relief the way you two have been acting the past week was giving me grey hairs.” the others seemed to agree with lan fan, ling glanced down at him before speaking “we might be boyfriends.” </p><p>“might?” ed sighed “we’re dating, he’s just an idiot.” it was quiet for a second before mei laughed and that got the others to laugh “what?” ling and ed were confused about what was so funny.</p><p>“it’s just, I can’t believe it took you two this long.” mei’s laughter seemed to be quieting down as she said that “even though you were with winry you could still tell you had feelings for ling,” al got cut off by lan fan “yeah, and ling was so painfully obvious about his feelings.” ling seemed to blush at her words.</p><p>“hey, hey, I think I was at least a little subtle.” that seemed to make mei laugh again as she  fell onto her side and held her stomach as she laughed. </p><p>This was nice, he felt a small smile grace his lips as he watched his friends bicker.</p>
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